Tidal Basin Partnered With The State Of Florida -- Enabling Equitable Access To COVID Vaccines Through Appointment Hotlines And On-Site Support At More Than 150 Points Of Distribution Throughout The State

Decades of Emergency Management Experience Applied To Help Manage Pandemic Response

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Jul 15, 2021, 16:43 ET

ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Tidal Basin, a leader in emergency and disaster management consulting, supported the State of Florida's COVID-19 vaccine program by managing the statewide telephone scheduling and help hotlines and providing training and on-site assistance to officials using the online appointment system to administer vaccines at more than 150 points of distribution (PODs) across the state.

To meet its mission, Tidal Basin deployed more than 160 field staff to support the state and counties with managing the vaccine distribution end-to-end process. The team supported completion of 7.5 million registrations and directly scheduled over 1.5 million appointments for Floridians seeking vaccines since inception, while facilitating communications and coordination for remaining registrants regarding local vaccine availability. The call center was launched within 72 hours, initially deploying 100 call agents, but quickly ramped up to 6,000 staff at the peak. The call agents fielded nearly 20 million calls. Deployed canvassers to assist teams of boots-on-the-ground support staff to reach more than 1 million homes in remote and underserved communities with vaccine education and registrations.

"Tidal Basin employed talent with decades of experience in emergency management to help the State of Florida set up an effective and equitable vaccine reservation system with exceptional speed and on an unprecedented scale," said Daniel Craig, CEO of Tidal Basin. "Our organizational capabilities are helping Florida provide their residents with greater access to vaccines."

The State contracted to Tidal Basin to provide:

Call center capabilities to enable statewide vaccine reservation and help hotlines for those without reliable access to or familiarity with the internet;
On-site consulting support at the State emergency operations center (EOC);
Training for county health department and vaccination site personnel on use of the online reservation portal to process vaccine recipients;
On-site support with use of the reservation portal at PODs;
Canvassing support to assist populations in remote or underserved areas with vaccine education and registration;
Technical advice and development support for upgrades and expansion of the online appointment scheduling technology solution.

"Tidal Basin has improved vaccine distribution by providing state and county officials with expanded transparency into vaccination data." said Craig. "We enhanced the user experience for Floridians by offering both high- and low-tech means to register at locations that work best for them," continued Craig.

Through upgrades in the online reservation portal, Tidal Basin successfully trained government officials to access real-time information about daily vaccination numbers, enabling them to measure results and more effectively plan ahead. Citizens using the system could see appointment availability and walk-up locations around the state without requiring them to be registered in different counties and choose the type of vaccine they prefer.

"Collaboration between the public and private sectors – even between health and emergency management agencies -- has never been tested to this extent over such a long period of time during a disaster and the success in standing up and running this system helped Florida be more effective in future disaster responses," concluded Craig. "Tidal Basin is proud to have played a role in assisting the State with this unprecedented effort to get Floridians vaccinated and stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus."

About Tidal Basin
Tidal Basin is the nation's leading emergency management and disaster recovery consulting firm providing deep programmatic and technical management experience and resources to governments, organizations, businesses, and communities. Our integrated disaster management solutions and expertise help our clients and partners achieve their disaster preparedness and recovery goals more effectively. Our understanding and ability to navigate all available funding sources enables us to provide maximum value by increasing the amount of funding our clients receive for programs that help improve their communities and businesses. To learn more about what we do and our team, visit tidalbasingroup.com.

SOURCE Tidal Basin